Visit the world’s best art bookstore in Japan

For the creative souls, the best kind of bookstore is probably one that combines a wide selection of curated books in a space that breathes with a disposition of art and design.

Tsutaya Books, established in 1983 in Osaka, Japan, is now present with many branches across the country. Every branch is impressive in their own way, possessing a charming characteristic distinct from one another, but still maintaining the same core philosophy.

In Tokyo, Daikanyama Tsutaya Books T-Site in Shibuya boasts a humongous, three-building complex connected with a 55-metre-long aisle known as Magazine Street cutting through the buildings.

Source: klein-dytham.com

Source: klein-dytham.com

Other than books and magazines of all categories, the bookstore also houses a video and music section well equipped with various genres, a stationery store complete with monogramming facilities, and even shops selling products and/or services ranging from pets and toys to bicycles and cameras.

Source: klein-dytham.com

Source: klein-dytham.com

The Anjin Library and Lounge emits a sense of nostalgia with rare collections of Japanese and international vintage magazines from the 1960s and 1970s. Visitors can also relax with coffee, alcoholic drinks, and food among the stacks of reading material at their own leisure.

Source: klein-dytham.com

Source: klein-dytham.com

Source: klein-dytham.com

Over at Ginza, with the vision of inspiring people to live closer to art, there are up to 60,000 art books sourced from around the world in Art Street, where carefully selected works from 100 artists are also displayed.

The elements of design in Ginza Tsutaya Books offers visitors a connection to the beauty of Japanese culture, as one walks through rows of six-metre-high bookshelves with turret motifs inspired by traditional Japanese architecture.

Source: timeout.com

There is also an event space designated for visitors to have a firsthand experience in all things related to art and culture.

Surrounding the event space is an area that doubles as a museum, displaying items on the history of Japanese culture specifically on the Edo period, including Japanese swords with their fine craftsmanship.

For a bookstore that offers more than just books, but also a creative assortment that cultivates a design-centric culture, Tsutaya Books might just be “The World’s Best Art Bookstore”, according to Huffington Post.